The failure of Indonesia's rights tribunal to bow to international
demands for the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators of human rights
abuses in East Timor has prompted the indictment of several high-ranking
officers, including former military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto, observers
said.

Munir, a cofounder of the National Commission for Missing Person and
Victims of Violence, said East Timor's indictment of the seven military
generals and the then East Timor governor was the result of the
dissatisfaction with Indonesia's failure to bring to justice all those
responsible for crimes against humanity before and after the August 1999
UN-sponsored referendum in the former Indonesian province.

He said the ad hoc rights tribunal set up by Indonesia to try those
accused of abuses in East Timor should have handed down prison terms of at
least 10 years for the perpetrators, as mandated by Law No. 26/2000 on ad
hoc human rights tribunals.

Hikmahanto Juwana, an international law expert from the University of
Indonesia, said the indictment meant the seven officers and the former
governor faced the possibility of arrest and extradition to East Timor
should they travel outside of Indonesia.

"Wiranto and the other seven men could be arrested by Interpol if
they travel overseas. They would then face extradition to East Timor if
the country where they were arrested had an extradition agreement with the
former Indonesian territory," Hikmahanto said.

Both Hikmahanto and Munir said the indictment did not violate the
principle of nebis en idem, or double jeopardy, should "East Timor
consider the ongoing trials in Jakarta to be unwilling and unable to bring
these perpetrators to justice".

In Kuala Lumpur, President Megawati Soekarnoputri said Indonesia was
not obliged to send Wiranto to East Timor because the countries did not
have an extradition treaty.

"We have to be very careful in responding to such demands. So far
the government has yet to receive any official request from them (East
Timor)," the President said on Wednesday during a press conference in
Malaysia, where she was attending the recently concluded Non-Aligned
Movement summit.

"We also have to see whether such a request is legally possible as
we do not have any arrangements to send our citizens to stand trial there
(in East Timor)," the President said.

Megawati said she met with East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao on the
sidelines of the summit and "he did not mention anything about any
request to arrest Indonesian officials. We only discussed how we could
improve our relations as neighbors".

Late on Wednesday, Wiranto held a press conference to pronounce his
innocence and say he did everything in his power to prevent the violence
in East Timor before, during and after the 1999 ballot by promoting
reconciliation between pro-Jakarta and proindependence groups.

The Jakarta Post February 27, 2003

Dili indictment based on command responsibility

Nug Katjasungkana, Contributor, Dili

On Tuesday, the Dili-based Office of the Prosecutor General of Timor
Leste issued an indictment of former military commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto
and six other officers who served in East Timor, as well as former
governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares, of crimes against humanity. The
following are excerpts of an interview with the Prosecutor of the Serious
Crimes Unit, Stuart Alford.

Question: What evidence do you have of the link between the Indonesian
Military (TNI) and the militia in East Timor in 1999?

Answer: Militias were part of TNI's ability to commit violent acts. The
evidence we have collected shows quite clearly that TNI was in control, in
effective control, over the militia groups. That evidence comes from
witness statements -- 1,500 witness statements -- which support the
conclusions we've reached.

We believe evidence from witnesses who were here -- some from people
here, the militia, TNI personnel, civilian authorities -- leads to the
conclusions in the indictment. Nothing in the indictment is
speculative...We based the charges on the evidence we have collected and
can prove them in court against the men charged.

We have identified seven of the eight men -- except Wiranto -- as
playing a part in forming and establishing the militia by the issuing of
instructions -- particularly to subordinate TNI officers -- giving money
for weapons, or by their verbal support and cooperation which, given the
intent of the militia groups, clearly demonstrate that the support of the
TNI hierarchy was important -- they knew the militia could commit these
crimes without being punished. The evidence is clear they were not
punished.

How does Wiranto's responsibility differ from the others'?

Wiranto is the only man in this indictment against whom we don't have
evidence of personal participation, by which I mean we don't have evidence
of the things he said or orders he gave, which directly led to the
establishment of militias.

But throughout the whole period, he had command authority over all of
the men charged, apart from Soares, and all TNI personnel who were here in
1999. During that period, it is clear that not only men in command, but
all ranks and levels of TNI soldiers, were involved in crimes. Some of
these are the men at the end of the chain of command using knives and
weapons to kill people, but nonetheless these were men under Wiranto's
command.

It goes further: Wiranto had command responsibility, but because of the
relationship between TNI and the militia groups, he ultimately had control
over militia groups as well, because the militia groups were controlled by
TNI subordinates.

Wiranto was repeatedly told by the press, members of the international
community, and East Timorese leaders that TNI soldiers and militia groups
were committing crimes throughout East Timor.

We use the long and growing history of command responsibility --
arguments developed at trials in the Hague, in Rwanda, after World War II
in Japan and the Nuremberg trials in Germany. This is one in a long line
of cases, the most recent of which is the (Slobodan) Milosevic trial in
the Hague (on war crimes in Bosnia).

Cooperation from Indonesia would be needed to take these people to
court. What if Indonesia does not want to deliver them to Timor Leste?

We believe that the process in East Timor against these eight men is
getting as far as we can take it. We have investigated, analyzed the
evidence, filed the indictment with the Dili District Court and arrest
warrants are in process and will be issued soon. Once obtained, they will
be sent to the Attorney General in Indonesia, and also lodged and filed
with Interpol, which means that any other Interpol country has the
obligation to enforce the arrest warrants.

We believe it will require something outside of East Timor to bring
these men to court in East Timor -- Interpol or international or
diplomatic pressure, or pressure from organizations and individual
countries to see that something is done.

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